Unfortunately, layoffs in the gaming and technology industry continue. After the aggressive growth in the pandemic, companies are resorting to layoffs during the calm period. After the major layoffs in 2023, we face a similar scenario in 2024. According to the new announcement, Microsoft, Xbox and Activision Blizzard employees It puts an end to the employment of 1900 people.
Microsoft Lays Off 1900 Xbox and Activision Employees
Microsoft Gaming department It has around 22 thousand employees. According to the statement from the company, a total of 1900 people, mostly from Activision Blizzard, Xbox and Zenimax employees, will be laid off. This figure is approximately equal to the employees working in the gaming department. to 8 percent It corresponds.
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In addition to layoffs at Activision Blizzard Radical changes are also taking place. Activison was acquired by Microsoft after a 20-month litigation process. The acquisition, worth $68.7 billion in total, took place last October. However, Microsoft tried for a long time to acquire this company. Now, there are some changes in the company such as layoffs and dismissals.
Radical Changes Are Experiencing at Activision Blizzard
In addition to Microsoft’s announcement to lay off many Activision employees, different actions were taken by the company. Activision Blizzard President Mike Ybarra decided to resign and announced this on his X account. In his statement, Ybarra gave the message “I am always with you” to the dismissed Activision employees. Mike Ybarra His post on his social media account is as follows:
Blizzard president’s In addition, the chief design officer, one of the founding partners of the company, also announced that he decided to resign. Besides, some In Activision projects was also changed. In this context, the survival game that the company had previously announced was cancelled. While some of those working on the survival game project were laid off, some were shifted to other projects.
The layoffs at Activision haven’t actually just started. Last month the company former CEO Bobby Kotick He resigned from his position and Microsoft appointed a replacement. After the CEO left office, some Activision Blizzard executives began reporting to Microsoft. Just as Microsoft appointed a new CEO to Activision, it also plans to appoint a new president in February.
few months ago Xbox managed There have been radical changes, the chairmanship of the platform Sarah Bond was brought. After the resignation of Activision’s CEO, the name to which company executives report Matt Booty He was appointed as the head of game content and studios. Matt Booty also oversees Zenimax and Bethesda studios with Activision Blizzard. The dismissal of the 1900 people in question took place a few months after the promotions of the people in question.
Layoffs in the Gaming Industry Continue
Microsoft The last time it laid off approximately 10 thousand employees was about a year ago. Last year, there were 9 thousand layoffs in the video game industry alone. While we haven’t even completed the first month of 2024, layoffs in the video game industry It approached 6 thousand. YTD Unity, Riot Games, Discord, Google, Twitch, eBay Companies like these laid off around 5,700 people in total.
In the technology sector, this number is much higher and close to 23,700. The fact that the number of layoffs was so high at the beginning of the year has caused concern among industry employees.